TY - JOUR
T1 - The mental health of healthcare staff working during the covid-19 crisis
T2 - Their working hours as a boundary condition
AU - Gong, Haitong
AU - Zhang, Stephen X.
AU - Nawaser, Khaled
AU - Jahanshahi, Asghar Afshar
AU - Xu, Xingzi
AU - Li, Jizhen
AU - Bagheri, Afsaneh
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Gong et al.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Purpose: Healthcare staff operate at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 and hence face enormous physical and mental pressures. We aim to investigate healthcare staff’s mental health issues and the associated predictors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this paper aims to identify some unique predictors of healthcare staff’s mental health issues in Iran, the second country after China to experience a major COVID-19 crisis. Methods: An online survey of 280 healthcare staff in all 31 provinces of Iran assessed staff’s mental distress (K6), depression, and anxiety (PHQ-4) during April 5–20, 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis. Results: Nearly a third of healthcare staff surpassed the cutoff for distress, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Females or more educated healthcare staff were more likely to experience distress. Those who were unsure whether they had COVID-19 were more likely to experience distress and depression symptoms. The number of COVID-19 cases among a healthcare worker’s colleagues or friends positively predicted the worker’s anxiety symptoms. Amongst healthcare staff, doctors were less likely than radiology technologists to experience distress and anxiety symptoms. Technicians and obstetrics staff experienced fewer anxiety symptoms. The age and the weekly working days of healthcare staff interacted such that age is asignificant predictor of mental health issues among younger but not older healthcare staff. Conclusion: The identification of the predictors of mental health issues can guide healthcare organizations to screen healthcare workers who are more likely to be mentally vulnerable in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - Purpose: Healthcare staff operate at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 and hence face enormous physical and mental pressures. We aim to investigate healthcare staff’s mental health issues and the associated predictors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this paper aims to identify some unique predictors of healthcare staff’s mental health issues in Iran, the second country after China to experience a major COVID-19 crisis. Methods: An online survey of 280 healthcare staff in all 31 provinces of Iran assessed staff’s mental distress (K6), depression, and anxiety (PHQ-4) during April 5–20, 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis. Results: Nearly a third of healthcare staff surpassed the cutoff for distress, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Females or more educated healthcare staff were more likely to experience distress. Those who were unsure whether they had COVID-19 were more likely to experience distress and depression symptoms. The number of COVID-19 cases among a healthcare worker’s colleagues or friends positively predicted the worker’s anxiety symptoms. Amongst healthcare staff, doctors were less likely than radiology technologists to experience distress and anxiety symptoms. Technicians and obstetrics staff experienced fewer anxiety symptoms. The age and the weekly working days of healthcare staff interacted such that age is asignificant predictor of mental health issues among younger but not older healthcare staff. Conclusion: The identification of the predictors of mental health issues can guide healthcare organizations to screen healthcare workers who are more likely to be mentally vulnerable in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
KW - Age
KW - COVID-19
KW - Epidemic
KW - Healthcare staff
KW - Iran
KW - Mental health
KW - Working time
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106912460&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2147/JMDH.S297503
DO - 10.2147/JMDH.S297503
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85106912460
SN - 1178-2390
VL - 14
SP - 1073
EP - 1081
JO - Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
JF - Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
ER -